On Halloween night six days before we choose our next president, I must confess that I realized inside me there resides a real fear of what would happen if Obama won next Tuesday. In the spirit of Halloween I decided to give in to that fear, like going to a horror movie, and allow myself to be really, really frightened by the specter of an Obama re-election. So here’s my Halloween Nightmare: Obama II, the sequel.

Like in a horror movie, things may look fine on the surface, but then the ominous music starts playing and you know something’s just not right. This close to the election I feel like I’m watching the American public in the role of that poor teenager, innocently wandering in the dark alley by himself, not knowing the danger right around the corner. The entire audience knows it’s there, and it seems anyone with half a brain would know as well. Yet the teenager doesn’t see it. And so the drama builds…will the hapless teenager keep moving toward danger, or will he turn at the last moment? The suspense is killing me.

But unlike those horror movies, where the fear is contrived and you can calmly go home afterward, my fear is real. The threats to our economy and freedoms are real, and there may be no going home afterward. Obama II may be a nightmare we don’t wake up from. Why am I so worried? What is this ominous music I’m hearing? Tonight I give in to the fear and try and give it a voice. Tonight I try and give a name to what lurks in the dark corners of my mind:

Maybe I’m worried that the next four years will be like the last four. I sat and watched from my position as an attorney for startup companies and venture capitalists as the economy slowed, investment ran dry, and people just didn’t get jobs back, even after reports of an improving economy.

Maybe it’s the fact so many people gave up looking for work. They don’t count in that 7.8% unemployment number anymore but they’re still unemployed.

Maybe it’s the passage of Obamacare, with its thousands of pages, new taxes and failure to reduce costs. When it seemed our economy needed an energy boost, the president was sucking more blood from it.

Maybe it’s the statements I hear from founders of large and small companies that if Obama is re-elected they’ll move those companies, either out of my state or out of the country.

Maybe it’s my dismay at Obamacare’s constitutionally-questionable mandate that some employers do things against their conscience and pay for their employees’ contraception.

Maybe it’s the use of constitutionally-questionable executive orders to do an end-run around Congress on immigration law.

Maybe it’s President Obama’s convenient conversion on same sex marriage.

Maybe it’s my worry about the fiscal cliff, and that President Obama has shown no ability to work with Congress in the bipartisan manner we’ll need to avoid the real horror movie of that un-natural disaster.

Maybe I’m horrified by all those rounds of golf President Obama played. Not that I object to a guy taking a break, but when I saw what happened in the first debate, I saw a pattern. President Obama only shows up when it really suits him, like when his job’s on the line. Maybe I’m worried nothing will motivate him if he’s re-elected and has no accountability. And maybe I’m not only worried about what President Obama won’t do, but what he will do without accountability to the voters.

Maybe I’m worried with no attention being paid, and no real admission of culpability, there’ll be a Benghazi II. How do you avoid repeating a problem you don’t take responsibility for?

Maybe I’m worried about what Supreme Court justices a 2d term President Obama would appoint. Would they interpret the constitution as it was intended, or would they fall in line with the other liberal justices on the court to act like a new legislature rather than limiting Federal power.

I realize I’m letting things get away from me. Mitt’s still neck and neck with President Obama, and maybe we won’t be forced to live through Obama II. There’s a good chance, given the polling data, Mitt even wins in a landslide. But tonight, on Halloween, I’m letting myself be terrified. I’m just sick that this nightmare has any chance of really coming true.

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is an attorney for venture capitalists and their portfolio companies by day, husband and father of three teenage boys by night. He’s an avid supporter of Mitt Romney for president and, as a graduate of Brigham Young University, a BYU football and basketball fan. Paul also enjoys competing in triathlons. Because he’s in the “Clydesdale” (over 200 lb.) class, he has even had podium finishes from time to time. Paul also has the distinction of being a big enough U2 fan to be willing to travel to Dublin to see them in their native environment.

About Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is an attorney for venture capitalists and their portfolio companies by day, husband and father of three teenage boys by night. He's an avid supporter of Mitt Romney for president and, as a graduate of Brigham Young University, a BYU football and basketball fan. Paul also enjoys competing in triathlons. Because he's in the "Clydesdale" (over 200 lb.) class, he has even had podium finishes from time to time. Paul also has the distinction of being a big enough U2 fan to be willing to travel to Dublin to see them in their native environment.

3 Responses to Obama II: My Halloween Nightmare

Obamacare=Halloween Nightmare
For many Americans citizens, Obama’s halloween nightmare begin when your eye doctor asks you what you have done with your foot doctor. We MUST vote out Obama.
Your liberty, your freedom will be stripped by Obamafake care. Think Nov 6 as a libration day for your individual LIBERTY and Freedom!

A year ago I wasn’t too sure about Romney: everything I’d heard made him out to be another rubber stamp for Wall Street. But I’ve come to find out that he’s almost exactly what the country needs right now. Unlike Obama, Romney really IS a uniter, bridging the party gulf to get things done. He’s produced real solutions to difficult problems as governor, and he actually looks for wisdom from people (gasp!) OUTSIDE of government! He believes that freedom and personal responsibility must be the bedrock of society, and his actions have backed up this words in this regard. If ever our nation needed a fiscally conservative, patriotic and principled leader, that time is now. Think about it: we’ve had four years to find out what Obama stands for. Now imagine another four..but with no further accountability to the American people. Obama took all the mistakes he lambasted Bush for and repeated them a thousand times over. But he didn’t stop there. He took abuse of power to a radical new level that no one could have imagined before the election – and at first the senate democrats were willing accomplices. Now even a fair number of them have misgivings about the character and sensibilities of this President. At this point there should be no doubts remaining about what Obama meant by “fundamentally transforming America.” For the sake of future generations and human decency, we can’t give him another term to finish the job. Maybe after he’s outsted he can become Jay Leno’s new sidekick – he’s certainly had enough practice.